Envelope



E. MORGAN.

BNVBLOPE.

Patented Feb. 2, 1892. UIMM (Model,

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by. j

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELISIAIA MORGAN, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

ENVELOPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 468,079, dated February 2, 1892.

Application filed July 12, 1889. Serial No. 317,348. (ModelJ To @ZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, ELIsHA MORGAN, of Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Envelopes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of safety-envelopes in general use by the Government or express and parcel-delivery companies and others for the safe transmission and delivery of letters, documents, money, and other valuables; and it has for its object to provide means whereby when the envelope has once been sealed it cannot be opened or its contents removed or abstracted without producing such changes and mutilations in or upon the outer exposed surface of the package as will at once attract attention and furnish immediate notice and warning that the package has been tampered with.

To this end my invention consists in the novel and improved construction, composition, and arrangement of t-he parts going to make up such an envelope, as hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanyingr drawings, illustrating one embodiment of my said invention, Figure l is a view of the blank unfolded. Fig. 2 is a View of the envelope with sealing-flap raised. Fig. 3 is a View of the envelope sealed. Fig. 4 illustrates a modified form of embodiment.

Similar letters and numerals'of reference in the several figures indicate the same parts.

In illustrating an embodiment of my present invention I have shown it as applied to or in connection with a well-known style of envelope formed from a blank A by folding the back sheet l over the front sheet 2 and folding and securing the end flaps 3 down upon the back sheet l, and in sealing the flap t is folded over and secured to the surface of the back 1. Vith envelopes of this class,

5o wherein one or more of the Iiaps are folded or extend over the pocket and are secured upon one face thereoffaccess may be had to the interior and the contents abstracted without producing any external evidences thereof by loosening and raising the margin of the overlying iiap, making an incision through the underlying covering, and withdrawing the contentsof the envelope thereth rough, after which the detached portion ofthe flap is resealed and the envelope restored, so far as external appearances are concerned, to its original condition. To provide against this mode of obtaining access to the interior of the envelope and subsequentlyconcealing the evidences thereof, I secure the front and bach sheets together along the margin of the envelope from the edge to a point within the inner edge of the folded flap, so that, even should the entire flap be raised, access to the interior could not be had withoutiirstseparatingthe sheets along the margin. The fastening of the front and back sheets along the margin can most conveniently, cheaply, and expeditiously be accomplished by means of gum or cement applied between the inner faces of the sheets along the margimas indicated at a, Fig. l, and the dotted lines in Figs. 2 and i In practice the ends and lower margins of the sheets are secured together during the manufacture of the envelopes, and the inner face of the upper portion of one or both sheets is provided with a gummed surface a', wider than the body of the sealing-Hap, for closing and sealing the mouth of the envelope. It will be observed that by fastening the front and back sheets together around the entire margin and within the line of the flaps a central pocket or receptacle is formed between contiguous sheets whose margins extend beyond said receptacle and are securely united face to face, so that entrance can be gained only by separating or perforating the sheets.

If the sheets 1 and 2 are laid flat and fastened along the margin, as described, it might be difficult to reach and moisten the entire surface of the gummed portion a along the opening or mouth of the envelope, and to facilitate this operation and insure the proper attachment of the two sheets at this point I apply the fastening a across both ends of the sheets l and 2 and form notches or cuts 5 in the upper edge of the back sheet l of rav depth nearly or quite equal to the width of the gummed portion c', thus permitting the up- ICO per edge of the sheet l4 to be folded back to expose the gummed surface a', at the same tlnle facilitating the insertion of the paper or other article within the pocket in the envelope.

which cover and secure the notched or slit' portions of the back sheet.

An envelope constructed as thus far described when properly sealed cannot be opened or the contents n extracted without tearing or perforating one of the sheets l and 2 or separating the sheets along the margin, and to provide against the latter mode of fraudulently gaining access to the interior the following means have been provided: In the first place the edges of the overlapping flaps are formed with teeth, as indicated at 8, and the flaps are marked along their margins, also the upper folding portion of the back sheets l, as Yat 9, by partially or wholly perforating or indenting the paper at these points, and in the second place the folded portions of the flaps are printed upon with any suitable fugitive ink, such as will run or change color upon being subjected to the action of excessive moisture, and on the ends of the teeth 8, as well as in the spaces between contiguous teeth, dots or lines l0 are printed with the same quality of ink. The toothed edges and weakened portions of the flaps are 'designed to prevent detaching the flaps, so

t that access'c'an be had to the outer edges of the sealed margins without tearing or disfiguring the surface to such an extent that should the attempt be successful and the flap replaced and gummed it would by its appearance at once attract attention and bear evidence that the envelope had been tampered with. The fugitive ink is applied to or in the neighborhood of the sealed iaps or other sealed portion, so that in case an attempt is made to open the envelope by moistenin g the gum with steam, Water, or other liquid the fact will be made at once apparent, owing to the spreading of the ink beyond its original boundary-lines or the change in color effected by the application of moisture. It is not essential that the flaps should be applied Wholly Within the limits of the sealed margin, as they may be extended beyond the inner edge of the margin and over the pocket, providing therportio'ns overlying the pocket are of such form and dimensions that if raised a sufficiently large incision could not be formed in the material beneath them to permit the withdrawal of the contents of the envelope and the subsequent concealment ofthe opening by the resealing of the raised portion.

An embodiment of the invention illustratfing this feature is shown in Fig. 3, wherein the flaps are formed of or provided with a series of teeth or projecting sections, which when secured to the sealed margin overlap the pocket; but the overlapping portions are each of relatively small dimensions, so that it would be impossible to extract the contents through any slit or opening capable of being formed beneath and entirely covered by said overlapping portions or points. W'hen the flaps are provided with larger teeth of this description, the ones at the extremities of the ends and sealingfflaps may be utilized for reinforcing the back sheet at the ends of the slits and for covering the latter.

Having thus described n y invention, what l claim as new isl. As an improved article of manufacture, a safety-envelope consisting of the front and back sheets having their contacting faces united by gum around the entire central pocket and the flaps folding over the envelope edges and united to the back sheet lwithout covering the inner edge of the line of gum uniting the front and back sheets, substantially as described.

2. As an improved article of manufacture, a safety-envelope consisting of the front and back sheets having their contacting faces united by gum to form asolid margin around outside of the central pocket and the iaps over the envelope edges sealed down on the solid margins and having points or projections extending out into the sheet beyond such solid margins, substantially as described.

3. As an improved article of manufacture, a safety-envelope consisting of the front and back sheets having their contacting faces united by gum to form solid margins, the back sheet being slit at each end to form a sealing-flap, the end flaps sealed down on the solid margin and having the projections extending beyond such margin just below the 'said slits to prevent the extension of the same,

and the sealing-flap on the front sheet, substantially as described.

4. As an improved article of manufacture, a safety-envelope consisting of the front and back sheets havingV their contacting faces united by gum to form a solid margin, the back sheet being slit at each end to form a vsealing-flap adapted to be united' to the front projectionsfor covering the endvslits, substan-Y tially as described.

A nLIsHA MORGAN'.

Vitnesses:

ROBERT W. DAY, EDW. H. DAY.

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